Just wanted to get ya'lls opinion on this guy. I admittedly haven't been keeping much of an eye on him but I know of at least one thing I'm liking. You never here his name called. Past experience tells me that's usually a good sign when it comes to interior lineman. what are your thoughts? is he there to stay? thanks in advance..

LordVile

01-18-2011, 10:08 PM

I agree, we haven't heard him being a bonehead out there like KEMO and looks to be eating up space.. I think he has been serviceable when needed, they guy is OKAY in my book.

johnstownsteel

01-18-2011, 10:24 PM

I agree, we haven't heard him being a bonehead out there like KEMO and looks to be eating up space.. I think he has been serviceable when needed, they guy is OKAY in my book. like i said, not sure if he's ok in my book yet or not. just haven't really been paying attention to his play. i do know i haven't heard his name much for penalties or getting blown up at the snap. i like that. just wanted to hear your opinions. thinking about the future a bit and where he might fit in. thanks for the reply..

AkronSteel

01-18-2011, 10:26 PM

Hey Ramon....play through the whistle and pick up the damn ball!!! UGH :HeadBanger

Other than that play, I can honestly say that the guy has been pretty impressive for an undrafted rookie in his 2nd year. He played pretty well last year when forced into action and he has performed this year pretty well after replacing Essex in the lineup. Is he the long-term answer for the position? No probably not but the guy can be serviceable at least and can be a good backup who can swing between both guard positions and right tackle. I think the Steelers biggest need going into 2011 is finding a good solid guard to go next to Pouncey, whether it be his brother or someone else. I like Ramon a lot but not as a starter at RG....

:2c

johnstownsteel

01-18-2011, 10:31 PM

Hey Ramon....play through the whistle and pick up the damn ball!!! UGH :HeadBanger

Other than that play, I can honestly say that the guy has been pretty impressive for an undrafted rookie in his 2nd year. He played pretty well last year when forced into action and he has performed this year pretty well after replacing Essex in the lineup. Is he the long-term answer for the position? No probably not but the guy can be serviceable at least and can be a good backup who can swing between both guard positions and right tackle. I think the Steelers biggest need going into 2011 is finding a good solid guard to go next to Pouncey, whether it be his brother or someone else. I like Ramon a lot but not as a starter at RG....

:2c yep.. big mistake made by plenty of guys on that one. hope he learns from it. thanks for the reply. guess deep down inside i'm hoping this guy turns into another undrafted stud much like willie paker was for us. time will tell...

Chadman

01-18-2011, 10:33 PM

Would personally like Foster to be given a genuine shot at winning the RG spot- or even the LG spot. He's shown decent development in two years.

Chadman is starting to lean towards the "draft an OT" mantra- if Starks & Hotel can man the LT & RT spots next year, have Hotel mentor the rookie & push Colon inside to RG. Most, if not all, your OL problems could be solved in that situation. With that, Foster could be given a shot at pushing Kemo for LG..

AkronSteel

01-18-2011, 10:43 PM

Would personally like Foster to be given a genuine shot at winning the RG spot- or even the LG spot. He's shown decent development in two years.

Chadman is starting to lean towards the "draft an OT" mantra- if Starks & Hotel can man the LT & RT spots next year, have Hotel mentor the rookie & push Colon inside to RG. Most, if not all, your OL problems could be solved in that situation. With that, Foster could be given a shot at pushing Kemo for LG..

That wouldn't be a bad idea Chadman!! I'm not really much for Kemo and after year 2 of his contract (this year) it won't cost the team one dime to cut him, if I remember the parameters of his contract correctly! If and its a big if, Starks and Colon come back healthy we could go into next year looking like this:

LT: Starks
LG: Foster
C: Pouncey
RG: Colon
RT: Adams

Backups:
Legursky C/G
Scott T
lil Pouncey G :D
Rookie T :D

I could live with that!!!

isonator07

01-18-2011, 11:09 PM

I think Kemo is our weakest link on the O-line, with our typical starters at full strength. I actually like Foster more than Kemo. If Colon and Starks come back from their injuries, i'd like to see us look for a guard early in the draft to take over Kemo's spot. I wouldn't mind seeing Kemo go and taking Mike Pouncey to fill that void. It all depends on who is there I guess. If Pouncey is gone and theres a Corner or D-Tackle I think we should seriously think about going either of those spots.

Colon, Starks, and Adams gives us pretty solid options at Tackle. Maybe i'm nuts, but I haven't given up on Hills just yet either.

AkronSteel

01-18-2011, 11:15 PM

Maybe i'm nuts, but I haven't given up on Hills just yet either.

He hasn't really gotten much of a chance but at the same time you would think that he may have shown enough in practice to earn some more reps. I felt the same way as you until I saw him get bypassed by Jonathan Scott and then the only performance his put on film this year (in Tennessee) was a train wreck!! I would like to see Tony progress but that injury he suffered his senior year at Texas has really put a damper on his career. The guy just doesn't have the FEET to get it done on the edge.....but don't tell Rex Ryan that!!!

:stirpot

Ghost

01-18-2011, 11:35 PM

Haven't seen anything out of Foster to indicate he'll be much more than serviceable.

As for Hills - there are lineman dropping like flies. The Steelers literally almost ran out last game and after 3 years on the team the coaches don't think he's worth even dressing in case of an emergency. He's so bad that don't want him to see the field. Why is even on this team? At this point he is a waste of a roster spot. Rather see what the rookie from Tennessee can do when he's healthy.

RuthlessBurgher

01-19-2011, 02:20 AM

Foster has been an inprovement over Essex at RG, but I don't think he's necessarily our full-time answer moving forward. I think he is a serviceable backup based on his diverse skill set (after Hotel got the squirts and was replaced by Essex, then Jon Scott got hurt and we had to move Essex over to LT, Foster was able to slide over to RT, with Bronko Legursky taking his spot at RG). I still hope we have a chance to get Pouncey 2.0 on board.

hawaiiansteel

01-19-2011, 02:26 AM

Maybe i'm nuts, but I haven't given up on Hills just yet either.

ok, you're nuts... :lol:

SidSmythe

01-19-2011, 06:36 AM

Foster is by far an upgrade from Darnell Stapleton (whom we won a superbowl with)

So far he has been better than Essex ..but i'm not convinced he's the answer. I evaluate guys by their overall play ...w/ a young guy you measure his improvement week to week. I can't say Foster has improved greatly, but he has improved some.

Steelerphile

01-19-2011, 06:42 AM

Colon, Starks, and Adams gives us pretty solid options at Tackle. Maybe i'm nuts, but I haven't given up on Hills just yet either.

One day the doubters will be proven wrong on Tony Hills. What the guy needs is playing time. The relative few snaps that he got in one game is far from the total book on him. Just as Scott now seems to be progressing, it all comes from getting a chance to go into the game, and learn how to deal with whatever the defensive players bring.

I think he absolutely has good feet. That has been demonstrated in camp and preseason. Hills is also bright with good character if you have seen him being interviewed. That is also a reason I believe in him.

So the people who bash him keep saying that he never goes in so he must be horrible. I reply by saying that the Steelers have released a lot of players since Hills was drafted but they never released him; so, they probably think he has a lot of potential.

He also only plays tackle. There is little doubt in my mind that he is overall more talented than Essex, but Essex dresses for the games because he plays guard and tackle.

SidSmythe

01-19-2011, 07:21 AM

Colon, Starks, and Adams gives us pretty solid options at Tackle. Maybe i'm nuts, but I haven't given up on Hills just yet either.

One day the doubters will be proven wrong on Tony Hills. What the guy needs is playing time. The relative few snaps that he got in one game is far from the total book on him. Just as Scott now seems to be progressing, it all comes from getting a chance to go into the game, and learn how to deal with whatever the defensive players bring.

I think he absolutely has good feet. That has been demonstrated in camp and preseason. Hills is also bright with good character if you have seen him being interviewed. That is also a reason I believe in him.

So the people who bash him keep saying that he never goes in so he must be horrible. I reply by saying that the Steelers have released a lot of players since Hills was drafted but they never released him; so, they probably think he has a lot of potential.

He also only plays tackle. There is little doubt in my mind that he is overall more talented than Essex, but Essex dresses for the games because he plays guard and tackle.

very good points ... next year will be do or die for him though unless they see him as one of those Essex types and keep him around for depth.

Chadman

01-19-2011, 09:49 AM

At some point though, Hills needs to make the step up to pushing for game time. At this stage, in 3 years or whatever it is- we haven't seen that. You don't want all the eggs put in the basket of the 5th year rookie...

flippy

01-19-2011, 09:55 AM

Would personally like Foster to be given a genuine shot at winning the RG spot- or even the LG spot. He's shown decent development in two years.

Chadman is starting to lean towards the "draft an OT" mantra- if Starks & Hotel can man the LT & RT spots next year, have Hotel mentor the rookie & push Colon inside to RG. Most, if not all, your OL problems could be solved in that situation. With that, Foster could be given a shot at pushing Kemo for LG..

my thoughts exactly.

one addition is I personally like bronco better. i think he's quicker and every bit as powerful at the point of attack.

rg is a good place to have a mediocre talent between hotel and pouncey. colon would be a beast in that spot.

Oviedo

01-19-2011, 09:59 AM

Foster has been an inprovement over Essex at RG, but I don't think he's necessarily our full-time answer moving forward. I think he is a serviceable backup based on his diverse skill set (after Hotel got the squirts and was replaced by Essex, then Jon Scott got hurt and we had to move Essex over to LT, Foster was able to slide over to RT, with Bronko Legursky taking his spot at RG). I still hope we have a chance to get Pouncey 2.0 on board.

I agree. If Foster was anything more than a decent back up everyone would not be praying for the oppportunity to draft Pouncey II. Foster is a good back up to have because he can play both OG positions and if forced to slide to RT. I really don't think though that he ever helps the OL get to the next level.

The player I'm really interested in seeing at training camp next year is Chris Scott. They must think very highly of him to essentially hold a roster spot for him when they could have easily just IR'd him.

I am with Chadman on draft strategy. If we are going OL in Round 1 I would prefer a OT over a Guard. Let the OT get his experience at OG and slip him outside to OT in Year 2.

Obviously, the elephant in the room is Willie Colon. What do we do with him. IMO Adams is playing RT as good as if not better than Colon ever did and he is signed for one more year. I'm not sure Colon embraces getting moved inside to OG because they make less than Tackle and then there is his injury situation. Can he come back at 100%?

I actually like the options shaping up for our OL if Starks and Colon both come back healthy. If the organization has an indication that they can both come back and be 100% then I could see us not draft OL in Round 1 and going CB or DL. I think we need to get both a CB (or two) and a Safety in this draft to give us some depth and legit young talent in the secondary. Of course this assume Ike Taylor is an absolute must resign. IMO he is the #1 priority.

flippy

01-19-2011, 10:11 AM

Foster has been an inprovement over Essex at RG, but I don't think he's necessarily our full-time answer moving forward. I think he is a serviceable backup based on his diverse skill set (after Hotel got the squirts and was replaced by Essex, then Jon Scott got hurt and we had to move Essex over to LT, Foster was able to slide over to RT, with Bronko Legursky taking his spot at RG). I still hope we have a chance to get Pouncey 2.0 on board.

I agree. If Foster was anything more than a decent back up everyone would not be praying for the oppportunity to draft Pouncey II. Foster is a good back up to have because he can play both OG positions and if forced to slide to RT. I really don't think though that he ever helps the OL get to the next level.

The player I'm really interested in seeing at training camp next year is Chris Scott. They must think very highly of him to essentially hold a roster spot for him when they could have easily just IR'd him.

I am with Chadman on draft strategy. If we are going OL in Round 1 I would prefer a OT over a Guard. Let the OT get his experience at OG and slip him outside to OT in Year 2.

Obviously, the elephant in the room is Willie Colon. What do we do with him. IMO Adams is playing RT as good as if not better than Colon ever did and he is signed for one more year. I'm not sure Colon embraces getting moved inside to OG because they make less than Tackle and then there is his injury situation. Can he come back at 100%?

I actually like the options shaping up for our OL if Starks and Colon both come back healthy. If the organization has an indication that they can both come back and be 100% then I could see us not draft OL in Round 1 and going CB or DL. I think we need to get both a CB (or two) and a Safety in this draft to give us some depth and legit young talent in the secondary. Of course this assume Ike Taylor is an absolute must resign. IMO he is the #1 priority.

I was happy to hear Hotel recently say he wants to finish his career in Pittsburgh and he's not even thinking about retiring any time soon.

I almost felt bad he was stuck in Dallas so long. He seems completely renewed here.

Eddie Spaghetti

01-19-2011, 10:48 AM

he's no Kraig Urbik, thats for sure.

:lol:

ikestops85

01-19-2011, 11:28 AM

he's no Kraig Urbik, thats for sure.

:lol:

I wish Urbik had gotten a shot in an actual game. We had heard from the beginning that he was a gamer and never looked good in practice. I thought he did pretty well against us this year.

steeler_fan_in_t.o.

01-19-2011, 01:53 PM

The best that I can call Foster at this point is serviceable.

He replaced Essex because Essex was not getting the job done, not because of anything Foster was showing. It may be nice to have a serviceable guy who can come in if needed, but going forward we must take the opportunity to upgrade if it comes along.